Sean’s Last wish responds to new FBI Hate Crime Statistics

Greenville, SC – Last Week WYFF-4 reported on the latest FBI hate crime statistics. The FBI report showed a one-percent decrease in overall hate crimes for 2007 but hate crimes against gay and lesbian people increased by 6-percent.

“This spike in anti-gay hate crimes is alarming and unacceptable,” said Elke Kennedy. “Andunfortunately, this number is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The report does not include that more than 30-percent of states do not identify or report hate crimes against gay people and more than 75-percent do not identify or report hate crimes against transgender people.

Kennedy continued, “And then there are states like our state of South Carolina as well as Indiana, Wyoming, Georgia, Arkansas that do not have any hate crime legislation at all, which means that those numbers are not reported and therefore not included in the FBI statistics. Without identification and reporting from all states, we will never get an accurate number,” she said.

“This clearly points out the vital of importance of comprehensive hate crimes laws federally and in every state to cover all human beings equally. Excluding gay and transgender people especiallyfrom hate crimes laws sends a message that violence against them is okay.”
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